Report 2025: Bridging Ireland’s tech skills gap through social mobility
While the economy remains strong, with low unemployment and high labour force participation, the tech sector is facing a considerable skills shortage. Over 83% of employers are struggling to hire qualified professionals, putting at risk the 40,000 new roles projected between 2025 and 2030.
At the same time, demographic shifts, like Ireland’s ageing population, and persistent barriers to social mobility, including lack of formal qualifications and socioeconomic disadvantage, are limiting access to opportunity. To secure inclusive, long-term growth, Ireland must act now to build a future-ready skills ecosystem that meets employer demand while ensuring no one is left behind.
Generation Ireland and McKinsey & Co. have co-authored this report to explore Ireland’s technology skills gap and the training landscape essential for bridging it, while also enhancing social mobility outcomes. This report examines:
- Economic and labour market performance of Ireland in the context of Europe;
- The technology skills gap which has emerged in the country, and how we see it evolving;
- The current technology skills training infrastructure in Ireland, and how it supports learners facing barriers to education and employment;
- Successful approaches used to solve this issue across Europe and global peers;
- Recommendations for a path forward, closing the tech skills gap in a socially conscious way.